Saturday, 11 June 2016

And Then There Were Nine: Longlist revealed for 2016 Ngaio Marsh Award

A
record number of entrants and a kaleidoscopic range of crime tales illustrates
the growth of New Zealand crime writing but provided a real challenge for the
judges of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, who have revealed the
long-list for their 2016 award today.

“In past years our judging panels have had some very close calls when it came
to picking the winner, or tough choices for who’d be finalists, but this is the
first time we’ve had such a log-jam of good books battling for the longlist,”
says Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson. “Even with nearly a dozen debutant
authors entering our new Best First Novel category instead, and the majority of
our past winners and finalists not being in the running this year, the pool has
never been broader or deeper.”

“That’s terrific for our local crime writing scene, of course, but does make
life hard for the judges, and means some good novels that judges’ enjoyed have
missed out. So I’d like to thank all the entrants this year, along with
everyone who has come out and supported our Murder in the Library series of
events up and down the country, celebrating local crime writers, the past few
weeks.”

The judging panel of seven crime writing experts from New Zealand, Australia,
the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Nordic countries, will announce
the finalists in late July. The winner will be announced at the 2016 WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers
Festival on 27 August.

The Ngaio Marsh Awards were established in 2010 and are made annually for the
best crime, mystery, or thriller novels written by New Zealand citizens and residents.
For more information, visit the Awards' Facebook page here or
email ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com